"I would just say, I always had the feeling in my mind that he was destined for Penn State." – Bill Bradshaw on Al Golden

It took former Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw all of ten minutes in a cramped hotel interview room to know that Al Golden, then Virginia’s defensive coordinator, would be the Philadelphia university’s next football coach. Bradshaw even scribbled it down on the yellow legal pad as Golden took control of the interview and spoke as if he already held the job.

“I wrote, ‘this is our guy.’ I still have it,” says Bradshaw, who retired as Temple AD last May after 11 years.

But his most important decision – perhaps the most critical decision in Temple football history – occurred in November 2005, the Sunday after Temple suffered another drubbing on the football field, this one a 51-3 thrashing at the hands of Al Golden’s University of Virginia defense.

But it wasn’t the football game that cemented Golden as Temple’s coach. Truth be told, it was hard to judge the competition based on their performances against Temple, Bradshaw said. Everyone beat up on the program back then. It was Golden. His command. His confidence. His values. His football knowledge.

In the interview, Bradshaw said he imagined himself as a player’s parent, a high school coach, a Temple alum, a media member, a university donor, a former Temple player. And through each of those eyes, he viewed Golden not only as a strong leader, but as the savior of Temple’s pathetic football program.

“If I was a father, I’d want my son to play for him,” Bradshaw recounts of his hiring criteria. “If I was a season ticket holder, I’d want to renew my tickets. In all those categories, Al was exceptional. He wasn’t a candidate. He was the guy for the position. He was presenting his case as if he were the coach at Temple. There was no flirting with the position. Al was embracing it. He had done his homework. He knew more about our players, our history than any other coach I've met, before or since. He figured it out. He wanted that job. And he had figured out why he was the best person for the job.”

Added Bradshaw: “I wanted someone who was committed to excellence and commitment to performance. And that was Al. He showed up with that kind of commitment to Temple in that first interview.”

According to Bradshaw, the Penn State committee should see the right man for the right job at precisely the right time.

“I would just say, I always had the feeling in my mind that he was destined for Penn State,” Bradshaw says. “I would be lying not to say that. It might sound corny. It might sound dramatic. But always thought that. And we had conversations about that. And when there were suitors, I would bring it up to Al. I would talk about those other programs, and how would that fit with him being someday at Penn State. I always felt that was where he belonged. And I thought Penn State would figure it out. He is a Penn State thoroughbred. He played there, coached there.”

So if Bradshaw were on the PSU search committee?

“That committee, they won’t meet a candidate like Al,” he said. “He is prepared as anyone, instinctively. I don’t think — I believe — that after they meet Al, they’re going to want Al. They are going to meet a candidate they never met before.”

Indeed, the prospect of Golden returning to his alma mater is a long time in coming, as far as Bradshaw is concerned. As far back as Golden’s first year at Temple, Bradshaw would bring up the topic to both Golden and former PSU athletic director Tim Curley. There was a knowing, unstated inevitability about such a football marriage on both sides, Bradshaw says.

“I’d say to Curley, ‘how long do you think Joe is going to stay there? He would smile and laugh. And when I would bring it up to Al, he would kind of smile at me and laugh at me, too.”

Now, the timing couldn’t be better, Bradshaw insists. After facing limitations at both Temple and Miami, Golden would enjoy limitless potential at Penn State to bring the once-proud program back to the college pigskin pinnacle. And after the abrupt departure of Bill O’Brien, Penn State would be securing stability and loyalty in bringing Golden home to Happy Valley.

According to this former athletic director, it’s a match made in football heaven.

“If it’s Al, I would say, happy days are here again in Happy Valley,” Bradshaw enthused. “There wouldn’t be a better person at a better time than Al Golden.”

On Golden’s time at Temple:

"Temple needed that kind of person at that time. We needed someone to resurrect the program. We needed a very special person, maybe the most important hire ever for Temple. As in anything Al does, he over-delivered in every way, every aspect of the job. Al is the consummate CEO. He looks at the customer, and he over-delivers. If there is a surprise, it is always a good one.”

On Golden’s football mind:

“There is not a brighter person in a room than Al. In college football, he stands out. Extraordinary confidence, belief and poise. He’s not sidetracked, not distracted. Believe me, there were endurable roadblocks and potential detours at Temple. He never blinked.”

On Golden’s preparedness:

“If Al brings his A-game to any interview, to any recruit, to any game, Al wins. He’s that compelling. He's that genuine. And in this business, there is a lack of genuine people. Al’s the exception to that.”